


In Translation Pt. 1

by koreanboyswriting



Series: In Translation [1]
Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 15:26:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13592964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koreanboyswriting/pseuds/koreanboyswriting
Summary: You get the job of a lifetime, being a translator for BTS, but things don’t quite workout how you thought they would. You end up falling for one of the members, Jeon Jungkook, will things work out for the two of you, or will you ruin your career and his?





	In Translation Pt. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Genre: Angst? Eventual Fluff and Smut

You were exhausted, you had stayed up all night excited and nervous for the new spot that your agency was going to put you in. Apparently, a k-pop boy group was going to be doing a lot of American press for a few months and you were the best English/ Korean translator they had. The position was of the upmost performance and secrecy as they were a very famous and popular group. You had been working at the agency for a little over a year now so your managers and colleagues trusted you, but they were required by the music label to keep the identity of group a secret till the day of because the music label was afraid you would tell someone and cause a media storm before they were ready to announce the news.

You were excited but wary because several of your coworkers had worked with k-pop groups before and had described them as snobby and stuck up, and those were just the girl groups, they said the guys were worse! They thought they had a right to everything because they were attractive, rich, and famous. Some of your coworkers even said that the members would proposition them or make passes at them, even blackmailing them by mentioning their job. And though all of this turned you off, the opportunity was too good to pass up, the money was great, and if they needed to travel they would pay you extra to go with them, and you got free time to yourself if you were to go on trips with the group. Getting paid to travel sounded like a dream and you weren’t turned off by all the bad things you heard because you were sure you could handle yourself, Korean men were worlds different than American men. And you definitely had experience dealing with them. Koreans by comparison were angels because you rarely met a Korean man who would force himself on you with the confidence that American men had, they each had their flaws though, which you got to experience firsthand; being that your mom was Korean and your father was from New York. 

They fell in love when your mom had come to the States for school, which made your childhood very different from other kids. Your mom moved to America to be with your dad and they had you and your younger brother, Cameron, this meant constant trips to Korea with your mom for weeks at a time in the summer, it also meant that Korean was your first language and elementary school was a struggle to learn English while all the other kids were lightyears ahead of you. It also meant you took funny things in your lunch to school and got teased, while the other kids had peanut butter and jelly you were eating kimchi. You were definitely thankful for it when you were older though because you got to skip through all the required language credits in high school and college. And though being a translator wasn’t your dream job you loved doing it because switching from English to Korean was as easy as breathing now and you could speak both now without an accent. Plus, in Korea everyone needed and wanted to learn English so you made easy money and did really well for yourself. Also, Korea was beautiful and you needed an escape from the States, and all you that left behind there.

You rolled out of bed and looked in the mirror and even though your exhaustion was written in the lines of your face, you decided that today of all days was the day to look your absolute best. You showered and went through your morning routine meticulously putting extra care into your makeup and each brush of your hair. After you finished you went to your closet and pulled on a black loose long-sleeved dress and your over-the-knee boots. Black was required part of your work uniform; the agency didn’t mind what you wore as long as it was all black, which meant your already all black wardrobe was put to good use. You threw on your favorite pink coat for color and paused in front of the mirror. You were already taller than most Korean girls thanks to your father’s American blood and you were unsure if heeled boots would be your best option, being that you didn’t want to be taller than the boys. But fuck it, you looked great and if you felt great and the boys were intimidated then maybe they would be less likely to push you around.

You pulled up to your agency building at 9 o’clock exactly and walked in the door only to be steered out by your boss and the owner of the company, Kim Byung-hee. Your boss tightened his grip on your arm as he yanked you to the side of the building, you tripped after him the heeled boots not helping with your already clumsy nature. Once he was satisfied that you were mostly hidden from street view he started rambling off in hurried and anxious Korean.

“Y/n this job is if the upmost importance and I need you to listen to every single word I say.” He breathed heavily looking at his boss, then began to whisper faster, “The group you will be translating for is BTS,” you gasped lightly but quickly composed yourself. “You need to do every single thing they ask, and I mean EVERY SINGLE THING,” you opened your mouth to protest, but Byung-hee looked at you with a murderous look in his eyes and you shut your mouth right away. “I don’t care if the ask you to fetch water for them or demand you to sleep with them, if they like our agency they will come to us for all future translation jobs, this is very important do you understand me?”

You started to think about what this job really meant to you and if this was something you were readily willing to accept. You had always thought that your boss respected you, hell, even liked you and enjoyed your company, but you now truly saw what you meant to him and what all his employees meant to him, but you needed the money and you had already committed yourself to the job and if you turned him down now then he would never give you a job again. So, you looked up into his eyes with grim determination and nodded your head. Your boss sighed with relief and his shoulders sagged and he looked at Byung-hee as if to say, “see I told you she would agree.” Byung-hee looked at you with approval in his eyes and stuck out his hand to shake yours.

“If you do your job well, I’ll see to it that you get promoted to recruiter and a raise may be able to be negotiated onto the table if you play your cards right.” He stuck out his hand to you, and you shook it excited about the possibility, but weary of how far you were willing to go to get it.

*** 

After the somber conversation, your boss and Byung-hee escorted you inside proud of themselves for manipulating one of their employees into doing what they want. You began to sink in on yourself and question why you were really chosen for the job, at first you had thought it was merely based on skill, but now you were thinking it was because you were a woman. Many of the translators at the agency were woman as well but they all specialized in other Asian languages like Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese, and Thai. You were the only woman who did English translations the rest of the Korean-English translators were men. Of course, the men wouldn’t want another man working with them they would want something to look at. You were becoming more and more disgusted with BTS by the second and you hadn’t even met them yet. Whereas, you initially gasped with excitement, that excitement was quickly festering into anger and frustration. You pulled yourself back to the present and tried to focus on the words Byung-hee and your boss were telling you.

“Now we’re not sure if they will need you to travel, it’s highly unlikely since they have a very close team of people that have been working with them for years, and probably will not want to take on someone so new, also accounting in that Kim Nam-joon already speaks English. But he might want the help.” Byung-hee and your boss continued on and once again you faded out of the conversation until your boss called your name.

“Y/n! Y/n! Are you listening?”

“Yes sir! Rapt attention.” You straightened up in your chair and pulled your face into one of seriousness and business-like calm.

“Big Hit is sending a car to pick you up and take you to their offices where you will meet each of the members of BTS, Mr. Kim will be there with you when you meet them, but not the entire time as he will be discussing a contract for you with their managers, while you are meant to get comfortable with the members and how they want you translate things.” He paused and looked at you, “Do you understand?” he probed.

“Will I get any say in the contract?” You asked, finding that at least here you would put your foot down.

“You will only be consulted if they request you for travel, otherwise the contract will be the same as many others that you have done, they may require a non-disclosure agreement, but it’s nothing too different than before.” You nodded your head in relief, finally assuaged in some sense, feeling like you had control over at least one small thing.

“Big Hit is outside,” Your boss looked down at his phone and then continued to speak ad Byung-hee got up and exited the room leaving you alone with your boss. “Remember everything that you have done before applies here, treat them as you would any other respected official you’ve worked for before.” You nodded getting up from your chair, and making to leave the room, you could see Byung-hee out the window already greeting the driver and whoever was with him.

You had your hand on the door handle when your boss grabbed your arm gently, “Look y/n I didn’t want to put you any situation that would make you uncomfortable, but Mr. Kim gets like this whenever we do any high profile jobs with k-pop groups, please understand, and let me know if you have any problems you know my phone is always available, and I will do anything that’s within my power to help you, should you need it.” You softened at his connection, finally sure that your boss really did care for you, but some matters were still out of his control because at the end of the day he was an employee just as you were. You nodded your head and gave him a hug, “Thank you Mr. Lee,” You bowed your head, and he smiled at you like a father would as you left the room, giving him an unsure smile through the glass door as you walked down the stairs and out the front doors.

Byung-hee opened the door for you and you got into the black SUV, buckling your seatbelt. You looked up and Byung-hee was introducing you to the driver and one of BTS’ bodyguards. You smiled and reached forward and shook the driver’s hand, who introduced himself as Yi Daejong, insisting you called him Dae, as every one of the boys did. You smiled and then extended your hand to the bodyguard, who seemed permanently stone-faced as he introduced himself as Gi Deok-su, you shook his hand and he offered you a gruff nod as a hello.

Dae took off winding through the streets at a fast, although not uncomfortable, speed; you arrived at Big Hit Entertainment in minutes as you fiddled with your fingers in nervousness, it seemed you were good at hiding it though as Byung-hee chatted to Dae, happiness conveyed easily in his tone. Dae leaped out first and opened the door for you, as Deok-su opened the other for Byung-hee. Dae extended out his hand as well to help you down and he gave you a warm smile, you knew then that Dae was someone you were going to enjoy their company for however long you were with BTS. You walked around the car till you were facing the front of the building, from the ground it easily looked about ten stories, it was all stone and glass, built to last but also to inspire elegance and sleekness. Dae and Deok-su guided you and Byung-hee up the stairs and into the building. The interior was clean and modern, there were two white couches facing each other with a metal and glass coffee table in-between, this waiting area was opposite a massive white and glass desk that stood in front of a large trophy case displaying several gleaming trophies. You looked around in curiosity trying to memorize everything to tell your only friend, Eun-a later. Dae called your name to get your attention and bowed your head in apology and hurried after them your cheeks blazing. You walked down the long hallway passing several offices and dance studios, people working hard within all of them, your entourage suddenly stopped and it took all your balance to keep from bumping into the back of Byung-hee. You walked into the meeting room and sat down in a leather rolling chair next to Byung-hee as Dae left the room to fetch whoever we’d be meeting next.

You were looking down at your twiddling thumbs as BTS’ main manager, Manager Sejin, walks into the room. He looks in a rush and you don’t know whether to speak or stay quiet till he says something, Luckily, your inner monologue is ended with him speaking first

“Hello, I am Mr. Sejin. I am BTS’ main manager the boys will be in here shortly to meet you and then we’ll leave you…” He trailed off looking at you to fill in your name, “Hi sorry,” you gasped, “I’m y/n.”

“Great y/n I will leave you alone with the boys to get better acquainted. First, I need you to sign this non-disclosure agreement, which basically says that we won’t sue you as long as you don’t reveal any private information or business information to anyone, got it?”

You nodded quickly, and picked up the pen he set down in front of you and hurriedly scratched you signature into the thick paper. He pulled it up just as you finished, and extended his hand to Byung-hee.

“Sorry to be curt but we are in a bit of a rush today as BTS will be having an over the phone radio interview today so you will need to be well acquainted with the members in thirty minutes while Mr. Kim and I roughly outline a contract in another room, they will be in shortly.”

Byung-hee gave you a stiff nod as he swept from the room already speaking fast in hushed tones with Mr. Sejin, who had his ear inclined to Mr. Kim, nodding intently. You sat there wondering how long “shortly” would be, when BTS came shuffling into the room.

You stood up quickly, and sucked in a breath, holding it, not sure what to with yourself. They all looked as if they just came from one the dance studios you had passed on the way here, they were all wearing Puma in varying amounts. V and J-Hope were each wearing a full Puma tracksuit, whereas Jin and Suga were only wearing hoodies, and Jimin, RM, and Jungkook were each wearing different colored and fit track pants. Sweat glazed each of them in a light sheen, but it was as if they were glowing, not dirty. You had seen their faces plastered on billboards, and flashing across TV screens for years, but none of those did them justice to how beautiful they were in person. RM was the first one to introduce himself, he walked around the table to you as each of them made themselves comfortable, V, Jimin, and Jungkook plopping into chairs, while J-Hope and Suga leaned against the wall, and Jin stood neatly next to the table. You turned your attention to RM, who was holding out his hand a welcoming smile on his face.

“Hi, I’m RM, but you can call me Namjoon,” he introduced himself in English, you smiled and meekly cleared your throat, “Hello, sorry I’ve been speaking in Korean all day, I’m y/n.” You blushed and tried to keep your calm.

“No need to apologize, I completely understand, switching back and forth can be hard sometimes,” You smiled back nodding in agreement as Namjoon began to introduce you to the group, switching to Korean, “This is Jin,” Jin reached across the table, shaking your hand politely and giving you a small wink. “This is J-Hope,” J-Hope moved from the wall and walked toward the table to reach and shake your hand, “You can call me Hoseok,” he gave you a beaming smile, making you smile back just as warmly. “This is Suga,” Suga moved from the wall as Hoseok did, and stretched out his hand to shake yours, “Call me Yoongi,” He gave you a small smile, his eyes conveying his disinterest. “This is Jimin,” Namjoon went on as Jimin ran his fingers through his hair and extended out his hand to you, you smiled and shook his hand as he gave you a little smirk. “This is V—,” V cut him off and stood from his chair to lean across the table and shake your hand, “Call me Tae,” he smiled at you as if you were something to eat, and shook your hand firmly clasping the other side of your hand with his. Namjoon rolled his eyes, though there was laughter in them as he spoke again, “And lastly, this is Jungkook,” Jungkook didn’t move from his chair, just leaned forward and extended his hand, his eyes smoldering and holding your eye contact a beat longer than necessary, after your hands came apart.

Hoseok and Yoongi moved from the wall and settled themselves in chairs next to the other members, as Namjoon sat down next to you. 

“So do you think I need the extra help?” Namjoon spoke up in English and the other members turned to each other and began talking, uninterested in your conversation. 

“Well me personally, I think your English is fantastic, I guess Manager Sejin, just thought you’d get tired of continually translating.” You shrugged your shoulders at the end of this feeling at ease around Namjoon, as he had an intellectual, but warm air around him.

“Well, thank you,” He puffed up his chest in mock pride, but quickly chuckled all the air leaving his chest.

“Means a lot from a native speaker, I’m guessing…?”

“Oh, you noticed?” You smiled at his astute keenness to others around him, “I was born in the States, so my first language was Korean and my father and my schooling taught me English later on.”

Namjoon nodded, and turned towards his members, who quieted down as they noticed his attention, only Yoongi kept talking to Hoseok till he realized they were all quiet.

Namjoon effortlessly switched to Korean, “Alright guys were doing the radio interview in fifteen and y/n will be here to translate everything they say, you can answer back in English if you want, if not I’ll translate for you, cool?” They all nodded in response, and you smiled at them doing your best to be open. You looked at each of their faces and noticed Jungkook still giving you the same intense eye contact. You turned away and began talking to the other members about which English phrases they were comfortable with, and taught them some simple ones to say back. You were resolutely looking anywhere besides Jungkook and you noticed him smriking from the corner of your eye, and you decided to busy yourself with taking off your coat as Manager Sejin walked into the room with Byung-hee. Byung-hee looked extremely satisfied with himself and you didn’t want to know the bad news before you had to, so you focused on your clasped hands in front of you, and smiled pleasantly at Manager Sejin. He looked at the boys and began explaining the parameters of the interview, to which they all nodded, mouths closed in respect to the elder speaking. Mr. Sejin then pressed the accept call button in the intercom phone at the center of the table and we were greeted by the booming voice of Michael Thompson from TheDailyScoop.

“Hey there to all, my ARMY’s out there we have BTS on the phone today, can you guys say hello?” Namjoon looked up and counted down from three, to which they all announced together, “Hi, we are BTS!” 

***

After the interview was over the atmosphere relaxed, Namjoon thanked you several times for identifying words that he didn’t understand. And the members all looked at you with more respect in their eyes, as you had proved myself to be of some benefit to them. You felt proud of yourself, as Manager Sejin seemed to be very impressed with you and Mr. Kim looked pleased at your performance. Manager Sejin began to talk with the members about their upcoming press tour as Mr. Kim pulled you aside and began to whisper into your ear.

“Y/n, if you do well these next couple days Mr. Sejin is considering bring you onto their American press tour, so perform well and you’ll have the position we talked about available to you the second you come back.” You nodded trying not to show the excitement on your face at the opportunity. You straightened your posture and listened attentively as the members, to Mr. Sejin, as Mr. Kim excused himself from the room pressing his phone against his ear.

After Mr. Sejin finished addressing the members he turned to you, “I’ll need you back here at 8 a.m. tomorrow as we have important matters to discuss regarding the next interview, this will be live, so the environment will be very different.” You nodded to show your understanding and all the members rose together, you following suit and grabbing your coat from the back of your chair. Mr. Sejin exited first, followed by Jin and Namjoon who called out his thanks once again. Hoseok, Yoongi, and Jimin left next laughing loudly at something Hoseok said, this left you with Tae and Jungkook. Tae winked at you and left immersed in his phone, and you finally moved from your standing position the side of the room towards the door only to be stopped by Jungkook as he blocked your exit. He was entirely way too close for a business relationship, so you stepped back, so you could look into his face instead of his neck. He was wearing all black and it suited him very well, and even though he still glistened with sweat, he still smelled of his amber cologne, mixed with salt of his sweat, it was a pleasing aroma, and it drew you in like an embrace, but you weren’t about to get star-struck in front of this man, who clearly knew how attractive he was. So you fixed your face with a mask of cold indifference and finally met his intense gaze.

“Can I help you with something?” You said in your business voice.

“No, no, I’m okay,” He responded, you stepped to the right in an attempt to go around him but he blocked your exit again. Now you were getting frustrated, you were about to open your mouth with a retort, when he placed his finger over your lips and leaned down to your ear, “Shhh… I hope I’ll be seeing you around.” He brushed his hand across your lower back and exited with the door clicking softly behind him.


End file.
